Mason's Alive?
by HouseofNight321
Summary: After they get captured in Spokane, Mason doesn't get killed. He LIVES. Does Rose's love life get more complicated? Or will she have to choose between Dimitri and Mason?


Mason had taken the advantage well. He opened the front door and I screamed in happiness. As long as that front door was open, Elena and Isaiah were in direct sunlight and in pain. Elena shrieked and headed toward the fireplace where, sadly, she was safe. Isaiah was pissed.

"Get them out!" I yelled. I referred to Christian and Eddie. They finally got out, I nearly wept in relief and then Isaiah looked at me.

Isaiah turned back on me with all of the fury of a storm, his eyes black and terrible as he loomed over me from his great height. His face, which had always been scary, became almost beyond comprehension. "Monstrous" didn't even begin to cover it.

He grabbed me by the neck and jerked me up. I thought he was going to end it, end my life. _This is the way to die. Fighting for our group, for what we believe in, for the Moroi, for the Dhampirs, for Dimitri and, for Mason. _

"Rose!" Mason shouted.

"Get out!" I shouted trying to look at him. Isaiah wouldn't let me. My eyes met him though. Mason knew to stay out in the sun where he was safe. He was a smart, cute, guy. I would probably never love him though. I came to Missoula to tell him that there would be nothing between us, but then we got kidnapped, and the right time never came.

"Rose, I love you! I'm coming!" Mason yelled with tears down his eyes. I was drifting in and out of consciousness from lack of air. Then a monster came into my half-awake dreams.

"You want a bite, girl?" he demanded. "You want to be a blood whore? Well, we can arrange that. In every sense of the word. And it will _not _be sweet. And it will _not_ be numbing. It will be painful-compulsion works in both ways you know, and I will make sure you believe you are suffering the worst pain of your life. And I will also make sure your death takes a very, very, long time. You will scream, you will cry, you will beg me to end it all and let you die."

I heard parts of it and then I felt a sharp pain on my neck. I cried out in pain screaming and screaming and screaming. Isaiah was right. This wasn't good. This was horrid. "Stop… stop… stop." My cries became faint, but he suddenly stopped. I was murmuring, "ow" numerous times while holding my neck. Isaiah felt I was no longer a threat and he dropped me to the floor. Hard. I tried to get to my feet, but it didn't work. I crawled to the sun and just before Isaiah could get me, Mason grabbed me. I knew where I was. I knew what was happening, it just hurt like hell. The Strigoi couldn't do anything about it now. They were blocked by the sun. It was about 12:00 PM. We had more time for me to get my strength back. I was a strong person, but with losing blood? It made me weak. It wouldn't stop me from fighting though. "Help me up, Mason." Mason grabbed my arm as he pulled me up. My legs were wobbly, but I stood my ground.

"Do what we did in class." He said giving nothing away.

I nodded then muttered, "Remember what you asked my mom on Christmas?"

"Yeah, what about it?" He said.

"Do that." My eyes shot towards the swords. There were two. One for Elena's head, one for Isaiah's. "I will too. We're in this together now." I whispered so soft that only Mason could hear. Well, maybe the Strigoi too. They have pretty badass hearing. "Do you trust me?" I asked.

"Always." He whispered.

"Then trust me on this." I stumbled into the shady part to where Elena was. Her eyes shot up. She was breathing heavily, her fangs retracted, and she stood up. She stalked towards me. Closer, closer, she crept toward me. Then, when she was close enough, I yelled, "NOW, MASON!" Mason ran for the swords until Elena saw this coming. She ran after him, except, Mason got one. What Elena didn't expect was Mason threw it to me and I ran towards Elena and swept at her neck with the sword. There was a bloodcurdling scream. It was so loud I thought my eardrums might break. Mason went for the next sword and got my back if anything went wrong. I struck and struck, but the sword wasn't sharp. Damn. She finally became weak enough for her legs to give in. She was grabbing at her neck. I swung one last time and then her head finally decapitated. At the door someone screamed. For two seconds Mason and I were both staring at Elena to see if she was still alive.

Isaiah sighed dramatically, "Turn around." We both stared at him for a second but then we looked at the door. Mia. Mia was there. I looked at a fish tank, then Isaiah, then Mia. I did the littlest bit of a head jerk and Mia got it. Mia was concentrating hard on the fish tank from what I saw. Then all of the sudden, BOOM! Glass shattered everywhere. Then there was a water sphere in the air.

"I didn't think I was this good." Mia murmured.

"Point it at Isaiah!" I whispered harshly.

"Oh, right." Her brows furrowed as she focused on the sphere. As little splashes were going at different places around the room, the water went around Isaiah's head. It doesn't kill the Strigoi, but it sure as hell makes them uncomfortable. I knew what Mason and I had to do. Mason and I both had a sword. We didn't feel we acted. Strigoi were evil, unnatural. They needed to die. They would have wanted us to do it for them. I remember Dimitri once saying you can't hesitate or else you can die. It can also be someone you know. That's how you can hesitate. We both answered if we became Strigoi, we would want someone to kill us, and be thankful. Going back to the present, we both ran for Isaiah and stabbed him in the heart, or, well, we tried. Yes, we both tried to stab him. He gave a good fight. Mason and I separated and Strigoi always go for the strongest as he went for Mason. I hate how guys think girls are weak. So with all of my strength, I ran/stumbled to Isaiah and stabbed him in the back. I didn't know if I got him in the heart, it looked like it for two minutes. Then, Isaiah came around slowly. Mason was already on it. Mason stabbed him again in the heart apparently because Isaiah stopped moving. I dropped to the floor no longer able to stand. I used all of my strength. I suddenly felt very tired.

"Rose, Rose," Mason said, "We have to go,"

"Gotta rest," I murmured as my eyes were closing. It was true. I lost blood from Isaiah. He took a lot of my blood. It was a miracle I didn't faint while fighting. I was barely stumbling.

"Rose!" This was Mia, "Rose, we have to leave. If there are other Strigoi, then we have to leave."

"Too tired…" And I lost consciousness. I woke up in and out. I remember Mason carrying me onto the bus. I remember he was just saying I was asleep and that I fell. I remember getting back to the Academy. I couldn't move for that long? Wow. My body wouldn't let me. I had scrapes all over. I was hurting all over, even in my heart. I could feel I was in another person's arms. I opened my eyes just a little to see who it was. My heart ached. It was Dimitri. He was bringing me to the med clinic. I felt a softer feeling as if I was on a bed, then (I hate these feelings) a needle going into my skin. An IV. I cringed and stirred. My eyes fluttered.

"Roza? Rose?" A sweet voice asked.

"Dimitri?" I asked, tears brimming at the edges of both of my eyes. "I'm so, I'm so, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed. "I shouldn't have gone to Spokane, I shouldn't have told Mason, and we could be dead right now. I'm so—"

"Roza, Roza… shhh… Everything is alright. All of you are back safely. We have guardians raiding that house right now. You and Mason protected two Moroi and a Dhampir. We couldn't be prouder. I couldn't be more happy than I am with you right now." Dimitri said.

My chest fluttered. Dimitri was happy with me. "But what about the list! Did they find the list of all the royals?"

"Rose, calm down. Yes, they found the list. They have a hideout just in case more Strigoi come out to the house. You have nothing to worry about. You're safe now; safe with me."

Okay, if you can't hear my heart right now, it's pounding like a hammer. He kissed my forehead before anyone could see. There were shades in my room, but we heard footsteps, probably Dr. Olendzki. So he sat back in his chair and I sat back in my bed.

"I thought I heard you talking," She said. "You have some minor scrapes, burns on your hands, and massive blood loss. We have you on an IV for fluids." I cringed. I hated IV needles. Tattoo needles were okay. She laughed. "Don't worry, It's only for the night. You will be able to leave in the morning." I sighed.

"But what about Mason, Eddie, Christian, and Mia?" I remembered Mason wasn't in much great shape himself. Eddie? He had been bitten numerous times by Isaiah. It made him weak and in bad condition. Mia used a lot of her magic to help us. She should be exhausted.

"They're all fine. Lissa healed them. In fact, she's here to see you right now." Dr. Olendzki said.

"Okay," I said. I sat back on my bed. Everything hurt. Lissa came in and sat on my bed. We talked for a little while about what happened.

"So, how did it happen?"

I sighed. "Mason and I got into an argument about the Strigoi and then he decided to go after them."

"How did you get caught?" She asked interested.

"We were in the caves and a van pulled up, we thought it was just going to pass, so we stepped aside, but it didn't. A guy with a gun pointed it to Mia's neck and 'They Come First', so we had to get into the car to keep the Moroi safe."

"What happened when you got caught?" Lissa asked.

"They took us to a house in Spokane. They had us flex-cuffed to chairs without food or water for days. Mason, Eddie, and I were fine until the leader, Isaiah, decided to feed off Eddie." I said and Lissa shuddered.

"That's why he looked so drugged."

"Isaiah fed off of Eddie numerous times. I tried to get him to feed off me just once for Eddie to regain his strength, but," I leaned into Lissa, "Let's just say it didn't work until once." I showed her my red mark on my neck.

She held out her hand to heal me. "Rose…" She gasped. I felt her anger, her frustration, and her sadness for me. I tried to pull it and it worked successfully. She frowned a little then shook it off.

"No, Liss. Don't. I'll heal."

"Rose, it will be like this for a while. At least me heal the bite mark."

I sighed. "Okay." I tilted my neck and flinched. It. Hurt. Damn you Isaiah. Lissa put her hand on my neck. I felt the magic go from her hands to my neck and I felt a tingle on my neck. I felt my neck. The bite mark was gone.

"There. A little magic won't hurt. I just don't want to see you get harassed by Jesse and Ralf."

"Thanks." I said and she winked.

"So, then what happened? Like, how did you get out of the cuffs?" Lissa asked.

"I was watching you when you were with Adrian and I found out he was a Spirit User too. Then I thought, 'Why can't we just use magic?' So I looked at Christian, tugged at my flex-cuffs, and he got the idea. So I complained a lot to the guards about my throat burning and on _fire _and he faked drinking my blood while burning the plastic cuffs." I showed her my burned hands and then they were suddenly normal. I sighed. "Liss, you can't use all of your magic on me."

"I'm not. I want to help you, Rose. You look dead-beat. You need sleep. You may be a double-Strigoi-killer, but even you still need their sleep." Lissa said then hesitated. "Before you do go to sleep, someone wants to see you."

I knew who it was before she told me. My heart ached because I was breaking his heart. I didn't know what else to do. I blurted out, "Come in!" a little too nervously. And who came in? The person who loved me but I wouldn't love back, Mason Ashford.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Mason asked.

What do I say? Here goes, "Pretty good since Lissa healed me."

"Well, I'm going to go. Come and see me tomorrow, Rose?" Lissa asked and I shot her a brief but frantic look.

"Yeah…sure…totally." My voice became faint. Lissa had bailed on me to leave me into the sharks with Mason. I know she doesn't know I like Dimitri, but, when the time comes, she and Mason will be very upset that I didn't tell them. But the most important part was, does Dimitri like me back?

"Bye, Liss!" Mason said enthusiastically and waved. Lissa waved back and left.

"Sit." I said trying to smile. He sat.

"I think it's really great what we're able to do. I mean, we killed two Strigoi,_ by ourselves. _We saved a lot of Royals Rose."

"I know." I smiled at the fact. "Mase, I want to thank you for caring for me when I fainted after we killed them. I don't know why," I really wasn't trying to lead him on. I was just telling him the truth! "I just felt really tired. I couldn't move anymore and then you carried me back. For that I am really grateful."

"Rose, I would never leave you in danger." He held his hand out and regrettably sending ALL the wrong signs, I put my hand on his and shook it playfully and smiled. "As I said when we were in Spokane, Rose, I love you."

I had no response for this. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know the _right _thing to say. I looked into his eyes searching for the truth. "Mase," I looked down. "Not now, please. I do care about you. I am not sure who to love, who I _like like_. Hell. I don't know what category Lissa goes into."

He gave a small laugh to the last part. "Okay. I understand. I get it. You're not ready for love." Close enough. "Let's hang when you get out of this jail. You can't do much, can you?"

I sighed overdramatically. "Nope, just sleep, sleep, and sleep. Oh, and then find a way to get this freaking IV out of me." I mouthed, "Help." He laughed shook my hand that we were still holding.

"Sorry, that's your problem." He grinned. "Nighty-night Hathaway." And Mason left. Mason was a good guy. And after tonight? I felt even better about him. Did my feelings change about him? A little bit. Not love, but like. I felt more for Dimitri though, and I needed to talk to him tomorrow. I finally was half asleep, but alas, the one and only Janine Hathaway came in.

"Rose?"

"What?" I grumbled sleepily.

"I just need to talk to you quickly before you get to bed. I already talked to Mason." She said.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Yeah?"

"You two killed two powerful Strigoi. I'm not saying what you both did was okay, because it wasn't. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to tell you that your _Molinija _marks ceremony will happen tomorrow."

I sat up. "Mason and I are getting _Molinija _marks?"

"Yours and Masons is a special condition. You both together killed two Strigoi. We all feel, even the queen, that both of you should have two _Molinija_ marks."

I gasped. "That's never been done. I mean we both stabbed Isaiah, then I decapitated Elena's neck. Mason just helped with Elena."

"That's the point. Teamwork. Guardians or novices need to stick together while they can. They need to work together as a team or else they get killed off. And fast. With you and Mason together, and a little more training before you graduate, you guys will be natural guardians. Almost as good as Guardian Belikov.

I sighed laying back into my bed. "This is a little much. Can I sleep it off?"

"Sure, just be there by 11:00 PM." My mom said.

"I will and guardian attire?

"Yes."

"Okay, goodnight!" I pulled the covers over for what it seemed to be a very, very long night.


End file.
